Down to earth, laid back, and gritty, Boston is a city that wears its heart on its sleeve – and with generations of diehard sports fans and families who can trace their lineage back to the Mayflower, that heart takes shape as an intense shared pride in their town.

Nowhere does that pride shine more than in the city’s love for its home teams. Bostonians eat, sleep, and breathe their sports, and the social scene comes alive whenever there’s a Red Sox, Celtics, Patriots, or Bruins game on, when rabid fans gather at the myriad drinking dens, restaurants, and bars, from Cambridge to Allston and turn the game into an all-night event. The city is also home to hundreds of authentic Irish bars and pubs, where post-game pride transforms into beer-drinking revelry.

Despite the focus on sports, however, Boston’s heritage clearly goes beyond its teams, with some of the most famous landmarks in America making a casual stroll in the heart of Downtown feel more like a history lesson.

And unlike in most major cities, Boston’s residents enjoy a certain level of camaraderie – no doubt based on their shared love of sports and culture – that goes a long way toward making every bar and lounge feel like a local neighborhood hangout.

A big place with a small-town feel, Boston is an accessible city with myriad things to do thanks to its solid metro system, which makes it easy to hop from neighborhood to neighborhood. And though sports and history may be Boston’s lifeblood, there’s certainly more to the city than just celebrating events like St. Patrick’s Day or watching the Sox.

In fact, with more than fifty universities spread throughout the neighborhoods, there’s an ever-changing roster of students bolstering the city’s nightlife scene and making for an always spirited – and sometimes crazy – mix of people from young to old and academic to blue collar, drinking beer at sports bars, heading out to clubs, finding great live music, trading stories at pubs, and sharing in a healthy dose of good ol’ Boston pride.

Explore Boston by Neighborhood

Separated from the rest of Boston by the Charles River, Cambridge and Somerville have a reputation for aloofness or even snobbery compared with the rest of the city’s blue-collar ethic, due in no small part to the presence of two elite universities, Harvard and MIT.

While not as edgy as Jamaica Plain or as upscale as Back Bay, both Cambridge and Somerville boast a flourishing art scene as well as a deep connection to Boston’s colonial history; after all,

Separated from the rest of Boston by the Charles River, Cambridge and Somerville have a reputation for aloofness or even snobbery compared with the rest of the city’s blue-collar ethic, due in no small part to the presence of two elite universities, Harvard and MIT.

While not as edgy as Jamaica Plain or as upscale as Back Bay, both Cambridge and Somerville boast a flourishing art scene as well as a deep connection to Boston’s colonial history; after all,

Actually underwater until a massive 19th-century land reclamation project filled in areas between Downtown and Kenmore, Boston’s Back Bay neighborhood has an endearing old-world charm and a population of young professionals who have taken over the area and the neighborhood’s distinct Victorian-era brownstones.

During the day, bustling Newbury Street is a magnet for upscale shoppers looking to browse the designer and boutique clothing stores or pop into

As one might expect, Boston’s Financial District is a busy hub of economic activity, looming skyscrapers, and a steady stream of briefcase-carrying bankers, lawyers, and other professionals.

The Downtown area is also home to many historical sites, served by a section of the city’s famous red brick Freedom Trail, which zigzags past old cemeteries, battlegrounds, and Faneuil Hall, an indoor/outdoor marketplace consisting of Quincy Market, North Market, and

Located directly across the Charles River from Cambridge (to the north) and Downtown Boston (to the east), Allston and Brighton are home to Boston University, Harvard Business School, and Boston College – not to mention Harvard Stadium – giving both areas a unique college town feel in the midst of the big city.

Although the border between Allston and Brighton is so unclear that they are usually lumped together, each has a distinct personality, with

A marshy backwater until the development project that introduced Back Bay gave the area new prominence, Fenway/Kenmore is best described as the buffer between Allston and Downtown and, as such, is a bit of a mixed bag.

Although Fenway/Kenmore has relatively few housing options, it has attracted many students from nearby BU, as well as financial types who like the area’s proximity to Downtown and its easy access to mass transit.

The Waterfront/Fort Point area lies roughly between Downtown and South Boston – “Southie” to natives, not to be confused with the South End.

Traditionally home to working-class Irish families, the South Boston Waterfront gained popular attention following the release of movies like Good Will Hunting,Gone Baby Gone, and The Departed, though the district has been undergoing a slow gentrification for years which, while slightly diminishing the